FFP

[ROBBO]

Where would you relocate to? Brum central was solid when I lived there (before most of you were born) and i can only think it is more congested now. It would have to have all the benefits of space, transport and possible further growth.

[Villan82]

I think it would be a failure if we moved from Villa Park and cannot make the space that we have there work. For his faults I think Purslow was on the right track with 'Villa Live' and the new stand and I believe the new guy doesn't value what we have and may well be angling for a new stadium as his legacy.

Aside from my obvious fondness for Villa Park, I would be concerned we would go down this route thinking the game, the rules and the football bubble is set on this track indefinitely and will keep going as it is. Things can change and in 8 or 9 years we could have a white elephant on our hands and be wondering why we didn't, keep hold of the stadium that sustained us in the best and worst of times

[itbrvilla]

Where would you relocate to? Brum central was solid when I lived there (before most of you were born) and i can only think it is more congested now. It would have to have all the benefits of space, transport and possible further growth.

To the site where the gas towers were. Not too far from town to walk. Not far from Hockley, Aston etc.

[pauliewalnuts]

Where would you relocate to? Brum central was solid when I lived there (before most of you were born) and i can only think it is more congested now. It would have to have all the benefits of space, transport and possible further growth.

To the site where the gas towers were. Not too far from town to walk. Not far from Hockley, Aston etc.

The problem with that is probably that it's not close enough to the city centre to encourage people to walk there, and is further away from the motorway than our current location, thus making it harder for drivers. A 'best of no worlds' scenario.

Also - not a great location for train users, whereas the current location at least has a station either side of it (even if the service is absolutely crap).

[dorsetvillian]

Plenty of spare land out here in West Wales for a new stadium...

[paul_e]

Where would you relocate to? Brum central was solid when I lived there (before most of you were born) and i can only think it is more congested now. It would have to have all the benefits of space, transport and possible further growth.

To the site where the gas towers were. Not too far from town to walk. Not far from Hockley, Aston etc.

The problem with that is probably that it's not close enough to the city centre to encourage people to walk there, and is further away from the motorway than our current location, thus making it harder for drivers. A 'best of no worlds' scenario.

Also - not a great location for train users, whereas the current location at least has a station either side of it (even if the service is absolutely crap).

It's a couple of hundred yards to the Expressway, and 5 minutes walk from Aston Uni. Once HS2 is in you're pretty close to that and it wouldn't be impossible to extend a tram down to it if you could get Street on side. For other stations Duddeston is probably a similar distance from there as Aston is from VP. Duddeston also has an unused platform (with double tracks) which could be fixed up and used to site a couple of 'specials' that only run on matchdays and sit there to fill up and go into the city. You'd need to work on  making a decent path/route from the station to the ground and from the ground to the Uni (and by extension the city centre) but I think it wouldn't take much to make it a far more accessible ground than we have now and with all the extra space you could add coach and car parking as well as things like a box park, sports centre, etc.

[Drummond]

I thought that site had been earmarked for something else anyway?

[paul_e]

I thought that site had been earmarked for something else anyway?

Probably, but if we want to move but stay in the area it's easily the best option and has a lot of advantages over where we are, Especially with HS2.

[Neil Hawkes]

Move to Bodymoor Heath and build our own HS2 train station at the back end of the field.

[paul_e]

Move to Bodymoor Heath and build our own HS2 train station at the back end of the field.

Sadly HS2 doesn't go near there any more.

[DB]

Do a Spuds, build a new VP on site of the existing one? Just a small question where to move while it's under construction, I did think of Alexander Stadium and put a load of temp seating to get in up to a decent capacity, as they did with the Comm games,  but that might cost a few Bob.

[Risso]

Do a Spuds, build a new VP on site of the existing one? Just a small question where to move while it's under construction, I did think of Alexander Stadium and put a load of temp seating to get in up to a decent capacity, as they did with the Comm games,  but that might cost a few Bob.

I can't see that being the way they'd like to go. It would leave us with all the existing problems in terms of access etc, and the additional one of where to play for two years.

[DB]

Do a Spuds, build a new VP on site of the existing one? Just a small question where to move while it's under construction, I did think of Alexander Stadium and put a load of temp seating to get in up to a decent capacity, as they did with the Comm games,  but that might cost a few Bob.

I can't see that being the way they'd like to go. It would leave us with all the existing problems in terms of access etc, and the additional one of where to play for two years.

Yeah, the Alex is only viable option. Spuds had Wembley, so not an issue for them

[chrisw1]

Where would you relocate to? Brum central was solid when I lived there (before most of you were born) and i can only think it is more congested now. It would have to have all the benefits of space, transport and possible further growth.

To the site where the gas towers were. Not too far from town to walk. Not far from Hockley, Aston etc.

The problem with that is probably that it's not close enough to the city centre to encourage people to walk there, and is further away from the motorway than our current location, thus making it harder for drivers. A 'best of no worlds' scenario.

Also - not a great location for train users, whereas the current location at least has a station either side of it (even if the service is absolutely crap).

It's a couple of hundred yards to the Expressway, and 5 minutes walk from Aston Uni. Once HS2 is in you're pretty close to that and it wouldn't be impossible to extend a tram down to it if you could get Street on side. For other stations Duddeston is probably a similar distance from there as Aston is from VP. Duddeston also has an unused platform (with double tracks) which could be fixed up and used to site a couple of 'specials' that only run on matchdays and sit there to fill up and go into the city. You'd need to work on  making a decent path/route from the station to the ground and from the ground to the Uni (and by extension the city centre) but I think it wouldn't take much to make it a far more accessible ground than we have now and with all the extra space you could add coach and car parking as well as things like a box park, sports centre, etc.

I'm with Paul, it would be an excellent site for us.  I imagine it's earmarked for alternative use and / or would be too expensive, but a 65k seater there would be excellent. 

In terms of land value, I think our current site would be at the lower end of the range - the most obvious use being pretty low cost housing, so no real windfall there to assist.

I still fear for us over the next 8-10 years though if we do go down the redev route.  The Emery era will be over and with the latest FFP proposals, I imagine after that time with our current stadium we'll more likely be in a position where the pyramid payments are of more concern to us than UCL income.

[paul_e]

Do a Spuds, build a new VP on site of the existing one? Just a small question where to move while it's under construction, I did think of Alexander Stadium and put a load of temp seating to get in up to a decent capacity, as they did with the Comm games,  but that might cost a few Bob.

That still leaves you with problems caused by the shape of the plot. If you could push the trinity 10-15m into the park and/or buy out all the houses on Nelson Rd and/or buy out Witton Ln and Holte Rd you could get a footprint big enough to compare but you'd stil lstruggle to add in all the extra facilities in a good way and, as you say, you'd have to find somewhere to play for at least 18months. The temporary stands were fine for a summer athletics tournament but having bene there a lot during the games I wouldn't want to be going anywhere near the top of those in sub-zero, wet and windy conditions, it'd be vile (and probably too dangerous).